The invention is particularly applicable to temperature management systems, such as heating and/or air conditioning systems, that are used to control the temperature of one or more rooms in a building or other structure. The invention is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with domestic space heating systems and their control.
Most domestic space heating systems control the temperature by targeting a set point temperature (which may form part of a schedule of set point temperatures that vary over a control period) and using a thermostat with hysteresis to turn the heat source on and off. This level of control is based only on the current state of the house and its heating system, and does not take into account any forward planning or knowledge of the thermal response of the house. Consequently, this known method of control can fail to achieve energy efficiency and/or the best comfort for the occupants of the house. For example, the room temperature is prone to fluctuate significantly under thermostatic control and can be uncomfortably low for the first part of a period with a raised set point temperature. Furthermore, if the set point temperature is raised for a relatively short period of time, this could result in further energy wastage as the temperature of the room increases gradually over that period, only reaching the vicinity of the set point temperature towards, or after, the end of the period of the raised set point temperature.